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The Iconia W3: A Windows Tablet Aimed for a Mini Market

Acer's Latest Attempt to Dent the Tablet Market

The Acer Iconia W3 is the first small Windows 8 tablet meant to compete directly with iPad Mini. But Walt Mossberg tells us that, although the Iconia W3 has some advantages over its Apple counterpart, he cannot recommend it. (Photo: Acer Inc.)

By

Walter S. Mossberg

Updated July 24, 2013 5:53 a.m. ET

Windows PC makers have had a tough time selling tablets, even though Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system is touch-centric, sports a tablet interface called the Start Screen, and, as a bonus, allows tablets to run traditional Windows desktop programs.

The best example of this struggle came in recent weeks when Microsoft had to slash by about 30% the price of its own Surface RT, a well-built, full-size tablet that runs desktop...